My Russian Family

by Lilia Sariecheva

  He had experienced much during the previous century and most of it was not encouraging. Good intentions turned evil, dreams got shattered, blood was spilt, and honor became a joke. The bad people sprang up like mushrooms in the forest. The bright hopes of humanity dimmed within a morass of greed and inherent violence. The Sariech Hawk was a sad and disillusioned man. He was a realist with little hope for humanity.

  Many people gained a sense of how to “fish in dark waters.” They raped and pillaged Russia and knew the “law of pilfer and slip away.” The last two Russian presidential elections were, in his mind and his words, “A comedy, an opera of craziness with an aria of madness.”

  The English writer H. G. Wells (1866-1946), author of The Time Machine, visited Lenin in Moscow and then wrote a book in 1920 titled, Russia is in a Haze. (The English title is Russia in the Shadows.) My father Mikhail now thinks that Wells was accurate and that Russia is again in a haze.

  Russia in a haze.

  For most of his life my dad was fighting American capitalism and he was not happy when I immigrated there, forfeiting the enchantment of socialism for the temptations of democracy. He felt it was treachery and infidelity, as though I had turned my back on Russia and on him. Now he is in the painful position of approving his daughter’s migration. He is grateful that I am not bearing witness to the boorishness, rudeness, violence, and aggression that has blossomed in Russia.

  Social violence in America precedes a smile and an apology. In Russia, it is a sneer and a curse. Both countries appear to admire greed over intelligence.

  My father nurtures an overwhelming sense of betrayal of his life and its values, and he feels nostalgia for the simple country life of his childhood. With an ironic smile, he recalls reading somewhere that a person died, on average, every 20 seconds during the entire 20th century from war-related causes. “A curse upon on the house of anyone who dares to rise up and worship the God of War! May they be the first to fall!”

  With a futile and dispirited air, Sariech the Old Hawk rises unsteadily from the wooden bench, homeward bound. His wings and flight feathers are worn and feeble and will never again soar freely in the sky.

  He saw only two possibilities for mankind. Man might evolve to sanity before he killed himself off. Perhaps somewhere a parallel universe is flourishing in the relative infinity of warps and curves that constitute the fabric of time-space.

  Appendices

  A. Acknowledgments

  The authors thank all those who contributed to this book. The primary sources were Lilia’s mother, father, aunts, and paternal grandmother who told her these stories when she was just a child. Almost all of her Russian family members or their living descendents generously contributed details and gave permission to use their names, stories, and photographs.

  The powerful cover design and interior layout was created by the highly gifted Robert Aulicino. Special thanks to three talented readers, Alison Marschewski, Judith Mason, and Margaret Sullivan.

  B. Afterwords

  Welcome to the Sariechev family stories. The author, Lilia Sariecheva, started writing this as simply a means to preserve her family’s stories and the book slowly evolved over a period of six years. As Russian is her native tongue, my contribution (as an American-born citizen) has been in helping her with the nuances of the English language and providing some history of the Russian experience.

  These family stories are true with dates, places, and events recorded as accurately as possible, although mistakes are inevitable. As the authors, we take full responsibility for all errors and omissions. Pseudonyms have been used for a few of the people and places.

  If some of the older characters in the book appear too proper and perfect, we ask the reader’s indulgence as many of these stories are memories of a little girl who deeply loved her family and could only see their good traits, not the human imperfections possessed by us all.

  The opinions presented in this book are representative of the 142 million simple Russian people and not the politicians, bureaucrats, or wealthy elite.

  The word America as used in this text refers only to the United States of America. This should not be construed as any disrespect toward the numerous other countries of the Americas, North, Central, or South.

  Russia is one of the great civilizations of the world and the lives of Sariechev family members and friends have been closely intertwined with its fascinating history. The search for a functional, comfortable, and stable government system is difficult and painful for every country. Individual citizens, as always, pay the penalties for these social forays. The price tag for Russian citizens was especially high, since Russia endured two major upheavals within 75 years, plus their horrendous World War II struggle of socialism versus fascism.

  Due to wars and the revolution in Russia, many of the written records which could have been used in recording the history and genealogy of Russian families, including births, marriages, ownership titles, and deaths disappeared. Thus, the author had a compelling motivation to record events during this violent period of modern civilization before they fade from memory.

  Personal information is difficult to obtain from Russian people. This reticence is considered a national trait. There are various other reasons. Time and healing are necessary for survivors to be able to face their survival and talk about it. Some older Russians are reluctant to delve into dark memories and many of the witnesses to these stories are already in their graves. Some people will simply not talk about certain events in their lives. A desire to protect those still living is another major factor that inhibits speaking out. Some people involved in these stories have changed their names and moved to new locations. Fear of retribution from a new regime in the future remains quite real.

  Russia generally receives fair treatment in the Western press from nonfiction authors, journalists, historians, and academics. However, Russia has been ill served by many Western fiction writers. Some of their novels and films perpetuate untrue Cold War propaganda, create misunderstandings, and of course, further widen the large gap between Russians and Westerners.

  It is generally accepted that under the tsar Russian peasants were treated like dirt, with no regard to their comfort or their lives. They were considered as something less than human. This was implicated in Joseph Stalin’s paranoiac actions. Some believe that the Gulag Archipelago was just a management technique to harness cheap labor and to populate Siberia. Stalin presided over an empire characterized by this prison system. Millions suffered and died. Millions more were emotionally scarred for life. This is evidenced by the efforts of the Russian people to resist Stalin’s reign.

  For all the apparent similarities between Americans and Russians, there are some basic differences in values. Americans lean toward freedom and the rights of individuals whereas Russians tend toward equality and society’s rights. Russians place a higher value on society than on the individual; the whole is more important than the part. Russians place a lower value on individual life than Americans do. This is reflected in numerous differences ranging from abortion laws to battlefield casualties.

  Since the late 1980s, as Russia trod a chaotic path toward a distant and undefined utopia, life has not been easy. Perestroika (reconstruction) and glasnost (openness) plus the Communist Party’s loss of power led to major upheavals in many areas with both good and bad results. The vast majority of Russian citizens enjoyed a happier, more contented and fulfilling life prior to the implosion of communism in 1991, than was available to them afterwards. Among Lilia’s friends who stayed in Russia and are still alive, many look back with nostalgia to life under Soviet Power.

  Lilia has lost almost twenty friends during the last few years. The nuclear fallout from Chernobyl and the Wars in Afghanistan and Chechnya took some, but their deaths are mostly from a variety of stressors and heart attacks. Rates of alcoholism, drug addition, and venereal disease have dramatically increased in Russia, especially among young people. Life expectancy in Russia has fallen sharply, part
icularly for men. In 1991, the year that the USSR officially dissolved, Russia began experiencing negative population growth, caused by a plummeting birth rate and a rising mortality rate.

  The amazing memory and the storytelling talent of Lilia Sariecheva gives readers an insightful glimpse of Russian life. Distinct perceptions emerged from these Sariechev family stories, like modern holograms of the murky past. Although there were seemingly insurmountable challenges and heartbreaking tragedies in her family’s history, Lilia’s stories shine forth with love, humor, honor, and celebration. It is our hope that this book will enable English-speaking people to gain a better understanding of the unique nature of Slavic people as well as the dynamic and intriguing history of Russia.

  —Robert B. Osland

  C. Genealogy Charts

  D. Story Site Location Maps.